Local Connection: Manchester Bombing

The cowardly suicide-bomb attack in Manchester last week specifically targeted the young fans of Ariana Grande - most of them women and girls.

It was heartbreaking and cruel and we all feel deeply for these victims, their families, their community and their country.

The one thing we should not be feeling is fear. Because that's their goal.

Too weak to face armed combatants head on, they generate as much shock and horror as possible.

They want us to think that we are in real danger of becoming targets ourselves.

We believe and expect that the international effort to eradicate ISIS and other terror groups will eventually succeed.

In Hawaii, authorities should ramp up the vigilance -- now that ISIS seems to have a foothold in the Philippines -- a country with so many ties to our state.

In the meantime, there will be more attacks. But we cannot let that affect how we go about our daily lives, our work, our travel. The actual risk that any one of us will be a victim of terror is actually low.

That doesn't mean we should let down our guard, but we also should not let these cowards have any impact on how we live our lives.